Chapter 9: Burning Down the House

SPOV

I woke up with a start, gasping for breath. The dream I just experienced was at the corners of my consciousness, and it was an important dream. I guess it was more of an idea my subconscious created then an actual dream. That was unimportant, what mattered was that I had an idea.

I fell asleep with that damn first aid kit nagging at me, but my sentient mind couldn't formulate the plan that my dream self was able to.

I actually laughed out loud – quietly of course. That stupid first aid kit contained alcohol wipes and matches. And because I lived in century old wood framed farm house not dissimilar to the one Pam and I were being kept in, I would bet dollars to donuts that that house also used propane. I knew from experience that the only way to provide propane to a house like that would be to have a propane tank somewhere along the perimeter of the house. My propane tank was located in the back of the house. Pam and I were in a small bedroom in the back of the house.

The pieces of the plan started to come together, but before I could execute it, I had to make absolute certain that Pam would be able to escape. That was all that mattered; the rest could all go up in flames.

Pam was still sleeping and she looked like a little angel, so I didn't want to wake her. It was early, though I couldn't tell exactly how early, but the sun wasn't even in the horizon and the moon still shone big and bright. If I had to guess, I would say that it was about two or three A.M.

If this plan was to succeed, I absolutely needed the element of surprise on my side, so I really needed to act quickly. So I regretfully woke Pam up.

Hushing her, I quickly told her my plan. "I need to you listen to me and do exactly what I say, ok?" I whispered. She nodded her weary little head. "This is very important Pam. I need you to stand right over there by that door and when I say run, you run out the front door. Do you understand?" I told her. I needed her to do what I said, her life depended on it.

"I understand mommy." She mumbled. She began to tremble with fear, so I hugged her and reassured her that everything was going to be ok.

"When I tell you to run, you go immediately. Follow the dirt road but stay off of it ok? I will find you as soon as I can. If you can, run out to that big road. Do you understand? You have to be a brave girl, ok?" I hated the fact that I was making her run into the woods alone. I was no doubt putting her at risk, but I had no other choice. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock being this godforsaken torture house and the hard place would being a defenseless young child roaming the scary woods alone- but away from these psychos.

"I'm scared." She admitted as she wiped the tears from her face. My heart was in my stomach, but I did my best to reassure her. "I'll come find you as soon as I can, I promise. Everything will be ok." Once again, I found myself praying and hoping that the words I spoke wouldn't turn out to be a complete lie.

I seriously underestimated the pain that standing would cause me, but I sucked it up. There wasn't time for that because the window of opportunity was quickly closing.

"Don't be frightened." Ignoring the searing pain, I kneeled down to her level and kissed her forehead. She simply nodded, but I could tell that my words did nothing to keep her fear at bay. She was just a baby, and I was asking so much of her, more than anyone should ever ask of a five year old. Nonetheless, she stood dutifully by the door, just as I asked her.

"Remember, when I say run, you-"

"Run." She finished and I hugged her.

"I love you, Pam." I wanted so badly to be the strong brave woman that could reassure her, truly I did, but in that moment I feared that this was our parting moment and it killed me.

"I love you too, mommy." She replied in a trembling whisper.

No matter what happened, that little girls' words of love would forever be etched onto my heart. Whether or not I lived or died didn't matter in the slightest, all that mattered was getting that sweet baby out of that house and back into the safety of her father's arms.

With a newfound resolve, I opened the door to the bedroom. My heart was beating out of my chest and I was so incredibly afraid that I was going to make too much noise and blow my whole plan out the water. Tip-toeing, I trekked over to the front door. It was locked. I knew that if I unlocked it I would make noise, so I had to act very quickly.

I took one last calming breath and braced myself for the maelstrom my actions were about to create. I quietly opened the small square package that contained the alcohol wipe. Then I took out one single match.

My heart was beating such that I could feel the pulsating thumps in my head. Then, as smoothly and as quietly as I could, I turned the deadbolt lock. I was right; it did make noise – a loud single click. Almost immediately I heard the things begin to stir, so I flung the door open and hobbled as fast as I could back to the room.

I only had a few moments before the two things would be completely conscious and would come for us. I made it back to the room within seconds and whispered harshly to Pam, "Run. Go." I nearly shoved the poor girl, but she did exactly as I said. I didn't really have time to make sure that she was out the door safely but I took it anyway. As soon as I was sure she was out of that godforsaken house, I threw the alcohol pad on the mattress and struck the match. I threw the match onto the bed which caused a small fire to ignite. I don't know what I was thinking. When I planned it all in my head, I guess I sort of pictured the mattress combusting far quickly than what was realistically unfolding in front of my eyes.

Frustrated with the lack of flames, I decided the best course of action for me was to just get the hell out of there. I could hardly walk much less run as fast as a five year old, but I did my best.

Unfortunately, my best just wasn't good enough. I was almost at the threshold of the front door, when someone grabbed my right shoulder which caused me to fall flat on my bottom.

"You fucking bitch." The woman said.

Adrenaline was coursing through me and my only thoughts were that I needed to stall them. I couldn't let them chase after Pam. The woman leapt onto me and began to throw punches. She landed a few to my ribs which caused my breath to escape, but I fought back.

Where my strength came from, I'll never know, but I kicked her in the groin as hard as I could. I knew that my kick had made an impact, because she expressed a groaning noise. I took advantage of that moment and threw her off of me. I hobbled to the kitchen, which was just off the entryway to the house and opened the first drawer that I saw. If luck was on my side, there would've been a large meat clever or butcher knife or something, but luck wasn't on my side because the only thing in that drawer was a soy sauce packet and some plasticware.

I could smell the smoke, so I knew that my little fire was spreading. The man, Lochlan, was searching the house, presumably looking for Pam. It was only a matter of time before I had the both of them to fight. I desperately needed a weapon, something, anything.

The woman chased me into the kitchen and tried to pull my hair. "You bitch!" she yelled. I faced her and punched her in the nose with all my might. Blood ran from her nose like faucet. I took that moment to reach for the next drawer. Flinging it open, I grabbed the first utensil I could find which happened to be a large serving fork.

I didn't even hesitate to jab it into her gut. She was too distracted by her bloodied nose to notice that I even had a weapon.

"What the fuck! Neave!" Lochlan yelled from the entryway of the kitchen. He watched as she fell to floor clutching her stomach.

Smoke began to fill the halls and living room, so when the first boom sounded, I knew that the fire had reached the propane tank.

It was quickly becoming difficult to breath and my eyes were burning from the ash, soot and smoke. With murder in his eyes, Lochlan lunged for me and I hit him square in the head with the heavy cast iron meat tenderizing hammer. He fell to the floor with a thud and made no more movements after that. I didn't know if he was dead or just knocked unconscious, but the screaming pleas of the woman drew me out of my shock.

I didn't even think twice before wielding the heavy mallet over her head as well. Like Lochlan, she hit the floor with a thud. I wasn't certain if I actually killed them or not, but I couldn't give a flip in that moment.

It was becoming harder to breathe and I coughed violently. My head began to throb and everything burned, my nostrils, my mouth, my throat, just everything. The fire was consuming the house and burned no more than three feet from the kitchen. The heat was so overwhelming and I felt simply exhausted. My mind was telling me to get to the door, but my body said "just lay down".

I fell to the floor beside the unconscious woman.

"Crawl." My mind spoke.

"Sleep." My body replied.

The adrenaline rush I had just experienced was now gone. All I had left was sheer will. I crawled. Elbow, elbow, knee, knee. Repeat. Elbow, elbow, knee, knee.

Pausing only to cough up a lung, I continued, elbow, elbow, knee, knee. The last thing I remember of that house was the heavenly feeling of wet grass on my cheek after that everything was smokier than the house fire.

A/N: Last chapter was the highest reviewed so far, so thank you for your kind words and support. Also, welcome new story followers, I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you.